(CNN) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao has topped the list of Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful people, besting U.S. President Barack Obama who slipped to the second spot.

The magazine said it used four criteria to define power -- whether the person has influence over a lot of people; whether they have significant wealth compared to their peers; whether they are powerful in more than one sphere and whether they actively wield power.

In that respect, said the magazine, the editors picked Hu as the most powerful man in the world. The annual list was released Wednesday evening.

As the leader of China, Hu presides over 1.3 billion people -- one-fifth of the world's population, and over the world's largest army. Under him, China has become the world's second-largest economy. And, says Forbes, "Unlike Western counterparts, Hu can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts."